Montgomery Regs Require More Affordable Units

SILVER SPRING, MD-The Montgomery County Council approved a new measure that will require developers to increase the number of units designated affordable housing in Friendship Heights, Bethesda, Grosvenor, White Flint, Twinbrook, Shady Grove, Glenmont, Wheaton, and Silver Spring–basically neighborhoods in which Metro Stations are located.

The measure, called the Workforce Housing Bill, sponsored by Councilman Steve Silverman, mandates that 10% of market-rate housing in areas near these stations must be work force housing. An estimated 2,500 affordable housing units are expected to be added over the next 20 to 30 years as a result of this program.

The new requirement of developers will apply to subdivisions of 35 or more units for a control period of 20 years for sale units and 99 years for rental units. These regulations are to be applied on top of the existing affordability housing requirements in Montgomery County, the Moderately Priced Dwelling Units Program, or MPDU. The difference between the two programs is that the MPDU is capped at a family income of $60,000. The new regulation expands that window to a family income of $110,000. “Basically it will require developers to set aside another 10% of units as affordable housing,” Silverman tells GlobeSt.com.